Sinéad O'Connor

Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor (8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer-songwriter who first came to attention in the late 1980s. O'Connor achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover arrangement of Prince's song "Nothing Compares 2 U."

While maintaining her singing career, she occasionally encountered controversy, partly due to her statements and gestures. These include her ordination as a priest, despite being a woman with a Roman Catholic background, and strongly expressing views on organised religion, women's rights, war, and child abuse. In addition to her ten solo albums, her work includes many singles, songs for films, collaborations with many other artists, and appearances at charity fundraising concerts. In 2017, O'Connor changed her name to Magda Davitt. After converting to Islam in 2018, she changed it to Shuhada' Sadaqat. However, she continued to record and perform under her birth name.

The Lion and the Cobra (1987)
Want you to pick up my scarf See how the black moon fades Soon I can give you my heart.
 * I'm dancing the seven veils

I don't know no shame I feel no pain I can't see the flame But I do know Man-din-ka I do know Man-din-ka
 * Mandinka

Troy

 * Official music video · Live At The Dominion Theatre (1988)

And Dublin in a rainstorm And sitting in the long grass in summer Keepin' warm I'll remember it Every restless night We were so young then We thought that everything We could possibly do was right.
 * I'll remember it

You'll return The phoenix from the flame You will learn You will rise You'll return Being what you are There is no other Troy For you to burn.
 * You will rise

I swear I didn't mean Those things I said I never meant to do that to you Next time I'll keep my hands to myself instead.
 * And I never meant to hurt you

God, I love you I'd kill a dragon for you I'll die But I will rise And I will return The Phoenix from the flame I have learned I will rise And you'll see me return Being what I am There is no other Troy For me to burn.
 * Oh, I love you

No I wouldn't have kissed your face You wouldn't have begged me to hold you If we hadn't been there in the first place Ah but I know you wanted me to be there oh oh Every look that you threw told me so But you should've left the light on You should've left the light on And the flames burned away But you're still spitting fire Make no difference what you say You're still a liar You're still a liar.
 * No I wouldn't have pulled you to me

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990)


But I really don't think so You asked for the truth And I told you Through their own words They will be exposed
 * Maybe it sounds mean


 * The Emperor's New Clothes

And I am not frightened although it's hot I have all that I requested And I do not want what I haven't got
 * I'm walking through the desert
 * I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

Don't Cry For Me Argentina (single) (1992)
Is there a celebration? No, I'm not inviting you to a celebration. I'm inviting you to a war... I'll lead you, if you have sheep, give them away If you have a family, leave them
 * I have an invitation for you.
 * Ave Maria

Quotes about O'Connor

 * In 1992, Sinéad performed Bob Marley’s “War” on Saturday Night Live, then proceeded to rip up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live TV, declaring, quote, “Fight the real enemy.” The move, a protest against systemic child abuse in the Catholic Church, of which she was a survivor, provoked widespread uproar. She addressed her SNL performance days later during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. (SINÉAD O’CONNOR: "Ireland has the highest incidence in Europe of child abuse. I experienced it myself. And I find his presence in Ireland, telling the young people of Ireland that he loved them, hilarious. At least when I studied the history, I found out that the people who were responsible for telling lies in the first place were at the Vatican, who, through permitting the invasion of countries and the destruction and murder of entire races of people in the name of God and for money, and then their subsequent overtaking of the educational systems of all the countries that they went into, led to distortion of historical fact.") AG: Sinéad O’Connor was an ally of the LGBTQ communities, marched for abortion rights decades before it was legalized in Ireland. She converted to Islam and started using the name Shuhada’ Sadaqat in 2018, alongside the name Sinéad O’Connor. She spoke out for Palestinian rights, respecting the Palestinian civil society call for BDS, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, once saying, quote, “on a human level, nobody with any sanity, including myself, would have anything but sympathy for the Palestinian plight. There’s not a sane person on earth who in any way sanctions what … the Israeli authorities are doing,” Sinéad said.
 * Amy Goodman on Democracy Now (August 1, 2023)